A partitioned material point method and discrete element method coupling scheme

Mass-movement hazards involving fast and large soil deformation often include huge rocks or other significant obstacles increasing tremendously the risks for humans and infrastructures. Therefore, numerical investigations of such disasters are in high economic demand for prediction as well as for the design of countermeasures. Unfortunately, classical numerical approaches are not suitable for such challenging multiphysics problems. For this reason, in this work we explore the combination of the Material Point Method, able to simulate elasto-plastic continuum materials and the Discrete Element Method to accurately calculate the contact forces, in a coupled formulation. We propose a partitioned MPM-DEM coupling scheme, thus the solvers involved are treated as black-box solvers, whereas the communication of the involved sub-systems is shifted to the shared interface. This approach allows to freely choose the best suited solver for each model and to combine the advantages of both physics in a generalized manner. The examples validate the novel coupling scheme and show its applicability for the simulation of large strain flow events interacting with obstacles.